Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the Vice President, and Hilda Solis, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, arrive at Columbus State yesterday morning to kick off a three-day, five-state tour of community colleges. Watch the video here

The Copy Center, located on the first floor of the Discovery Exchange/Bookstore, will close at that location March 1 and move downstairs in the basement level, merging with the college’s Print Services Department. Read more

Mobile advertising, Egyptian-style!

Dublin Site Specialist Teresa Lister, center, brought Columbus State to the Pyramids of Giza when she visited with former students Mahmoud Baheg and Hesham Zeiada in Egypt recently. Lister had served as a mentor to the two who were enrolled in the Community Colleges for International Development (CCID) program last year. Lister said that the camel was not at all impressed with his role as a billboard!

As the renovation of Union Hall continues, the walkway that passes between Union Hall and
The Center for Technology and Learning (TL) will close to pedestrian traffic on Wednesday, March 7. The walkway is expected to be closed for several months or more as the Union Hall project continues.

The Switch to Semesters is right around the corner, starting in August 2012.

All S2S departmental contacts and supervisors should review their inventory spreadsheets and make any needed changes to existing departmental forms, policies, procedures, web pages, and printed brochures by the targeted deadlines. (Departments each have their own individual deadlines.)

As you are making the semester-related updates to materials, please take time to check and update any other college terminology that has changed since the last printing. An example is that Learning Systems is now Academic Affairs. And the ERC has become the Library.

If you have any questions about updating your documents, please contact Stephanie Demers, Labor and HR Advisor, Human Resources at sdemers@cscc.edu or call ext. 5519.

Health Rewards Program briefing offered March 7

Would you like to know more about the new Health Rewards Program offered
through United Health Care, and the changes that went into effect September
1 for all covered employees?

Human Resources will offer a briefing to fill you in on the program and
answer questions on Wednesday, March 7 at 12:00 p.m. in TL 113.
For more information, contact Nichole Bowman-Glover at
nbowmang@cscc.edu or call ext. 3989.

Don’t miss out on dining this quarter at the student-run
restaurant, Christopher’s! The restaurant is open on
Thursday, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Eibling Hall
room 05. The March 8 final menu is online here: Christopher’s.

English faculty from Columbus State and OSU-Marion have piloted a program this Winter Quarter that celebrates the written words of their freshmen composition students.

Called “In My Own Words,” this student writing forum selects the best essays from various first-year composition courses on the campus, culminating in a public reading on March 7 in Moeller Hall.

This quarter, faculty members highlighted the best personal narratives in their courses using a variety of methods ranging from teacher’s choice, class vote, or blind peer review (where students from an entirely different class determine the best essay). On Wednesday, March 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., students will read their works at the Cyber Cafe in Moeller Hall. Prizes will be awarded to those students whose essays are recognized.

“The personal stories my students share each quarter are truly inspirational and deserve to be recognized publicly. I'm thrilled to participate in this project to showcase the powerful student voices on this campus.” says Nancy Pine, a Columbus State instructor who teaches on the Delaware campus and one of the program’s coordinators.

“In addition to shining a spotlight on our students’ powerful writing, we wanted to set up a program that would be easy for participating teachers to implement in their classes without disrupting their respective curricula” says Ben McCorkle, Writing Program Administrator for OSU Marion. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the results this quarter.”

Future plans include a focus on publishing student writing, and a miniature academic conference highlighting student research and scholarship. For more information about this pilot program, contact Nancy Pine or call (740) 203-8072.

Dianne Fidelibus, assistant professor and program coordinator, Mental Health/Addiction Studies/Developmental Disabilities, was recently the speaker for the Columbus Area Inc. Recovery Celebration. Attending the celebration were individuals completing a residential treatment program, as well as six staff members who were graduates of the MH/AS/DD program.

Fidelibus is currently serving her sixth and final year as a member of the Board of Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals, and was recently re-elected as secretary. A major emphasis this final year will be to assist with the passage of new legislation that provides individuals with a more reasonable pathway to licensure and rules revision. Fidelibus chairs the Treatment Committee of the Board.

Finally, Fidelibus will be present at the upcoming Spring Conference of the Ohio Coalition of Associate Degree Human Service Educators in April.